The Gulf has been hit by its biggest diplomatic crisis in years after Arab nations including Saudi Arabia,
the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain cut ties with Qatar,
accusing it of destabilising the region with its support for Islamist
groups.
The countries said they would halt all land, air and sea traffic with Qatar,
eject its diplomats and order Qatari citizens to leave the Gulf states
within 14 days. Shoppers in the Qatari capital, Doha, meanwhile packed
supermarkets amid fears the country, which relies on imports from its
neighbours, would face food shortages after Saudi Arabia closed its sole
land border.
Social media reports from Doha showed supermarket shelves empty as
nervous consumers began to worry that stocks of food and water would run
out. As much as 40% of Qatar’s food comes over the Saudi border.
The small but very wealthy nation, the richest in the world per capita, was also expelled from a Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen. read morereadmore The coordinated move dramatically escalates a dispute over Qatar’s
support of Islamist movements, including the Muslim Brotherhood, and its
perceived tolerance of Saudi Arabia’s arch-rival, Iran. The dispute is
the worst to hit the Gulf since the formation of the Gulf Co-operation
Council in 1981.
Qatar’s foreign affairs ministry said the measures were unjustified
and based on false claims and assumptions. As the Qatari stock market
tumbled and oil prices rose, it accused its fellow Gulf states of
violating its sovereignty.
“The state of Qatar has been subjected to a campaign of lies that
have reached the point of complete fabrication,” a statement said. “It
reveals a hidden plan to undermine the state of Qatar.”
Saudi Arabia said it took the decision to cut diplomatic ties owing
to Qatar’s “embrace of various terrorist and sectarian groups aimed at
destabilising the region”, including the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Qaida,
Islamic State and groups supported by Iran in Saudi Arabia’s restive
eastern province of Qatif.
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